Personal Device Roles
Personal Device Roles
Personal roles are designed for individual users who want to send and receive messages. They vary in how aggressively the device relays messages for others.
Important: Your role choice affects everyone on the network. The Meshtastic project’project's guidance is clear: only assign Router or Repeater roles to nodes with genuinely excellent placement and reliable continuous power. Do not assign infrastructure roles to personal devices for convenience.
Client (Default)
Behavior: Sends and receives messages via the app. Rebroadcasts messages when the node determines it is the best-positioned relay for a given packet (smart relay logic).
Use for: Most personal handhelds and portable nodes. This is the correct default for the majority of users.
Client Mute
Behavior: Fully participates in messaging but never relays packets for other nodes.
Use for: Dense environments (city centers, events, conferences) where the channel is congested and adding another relay would make things worse. Client Mute is underappreciated —- in a high-density network, switching personal devices to Client Mute can dramatically reduce channel utilization without losing any personal messaging capability.
Client Hidden
Behavior: Minimizes presence broadcasts. The node participates in messaging but does not frequently announce its existence to the network.
Use for: Privacy-conscious users who want to use the mesh without being visible in others’others' node lists. Useful for covert or sensitive deployments.
Client Base
Behavior: Acts as a personal base station. Rebroadcasts quickly and aggressively, but only for nodes that have been favorited/starred by the user. Ignores relay requests from non-favorited nodes.
Use for: Home base stations that should prioritize relaying for a known group (family, team) without contributing to general network congestion.
Choosing the Right Personal Role
| Situation | Recommended Role |
|---|---|
| Default personal use | Client |
| Dense urban area or event with congestion | Client Mute |
| Privacy-conscious deployment | Client Hidden |
| Home base station for a known group | Client Base |